Democrats need to pick up four seats in November to win control of the Senate, according to The Wall Street Journal, a goal that in typical cycles would be a tall order but that this year faces an unusually unpredictable map. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 51,561.93 on Friday.
The Journal, in its Politics newsletter, described the current race landscape as marked by “confusion and drama” in both parties, leaving the trajectory of the fight for the majority uncertain roughly five months before Election Day.
Separately from the midterm outlook, the Senate on Friday passed a $70 billion immigration-enforcement bill that funds U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection through the remainder of Trump’s second term. Republican senators stopped short of attaching language to rein in the “anti-weaponization” fund, a Trump administration program that has drawn criticism from both parties, the Journal reported.
The Journal also reported that the Food and Drug Administration has initiated a study of the safety of mifepristone, the medication abortion pill. The probe could potentially lead to restrictions on the drug, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Antiabortion groups and Republican members of Congress have demanded such a study for the past year, according to the Journal. The FDA’s website currently says mifepristone is safe, but antiabortion activists have pointed to the agency changing its rules to allow distribution through the mail and via telehealth.
In other political developments, the Journal reported that former Vice President Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom face a potential 2028 presidential primary showdown, describing it as the culmination of more than two decades of rivalry between the pair. Former national security adviser John Bolton has reached a plea deal in his mishandling of classified information case, according to the Journal.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics was scheduled to release May’s jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Trump is expected to hold a policy meeting and later travel to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, for a roundtable on American agriculture.
MSI previously reported that Democrats see a narrow path to win the Senate in November, reflecting the party’s need to hold difficult seats while flipping several Republican-held ones. Read the full article.